Caramelised pineapple with green Sichuan peppercorn ice-cream

AT A GLANCE

Serves 4 - 6 people

15 min preparation

45 min cooking (plus freezing, cooling)

"This combination was first introduced to me by Mark Best of
Sydney's Marque restaurant when I was a chef de partie there," says
Liong. "I loved it so much I stole it - thanks Besty." Start this
recipe a day ahead to make the ice-cream.

For green Sichuan peppercorn ice-cream, preheat oven to 160C. Roast peppercorns on a tray, stirring occasionally, until aromatic (10-15 minutes), then place in a saucepan with milk and cream and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, whisk sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until light and fluffy, then add hot milk mixture, whisking continuously. Return to pan and stir continuously over low heat until mixture reaches 85C on a sugar thermometer (15-20 minutes). Pour into a bowl placed over a bowl filled with ice to cool, then strain mixture through a sieve (discard peppercorns). Churn in an ice-cream machine, then freeze in an airtight container. Makes 2 litres.

02

Bring sugar and 200ml water to the boil in a saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, then boil without stirring until a dark caramel forms or it reaches 160C on a sugar thermometer (10-12 minutes). Remove from heat, slowly add pineapple pieces (be careful, hot caramel will spit) and stir into caramel, then return pan to heat and bring back to the boil. Cool to room temperature (about an hour), then strain caramel into a bowl, refrigerate pineapple in a container to chill and reserve caramel at room temperature.

03

To serve, spoon a little caramelised pineapple into serving bowls, top with a generous scoop of ice-cream and drizzle with caramel.